Furto alla banca d'Inghilterra

For a chance to see Peter O'Toole before Lawrence Of Arabia, I would highly recommend The Day They Robbed The Bank Of England. It's a period caper film set at the turn of the last century about some Fenians attempting to rob the Bank Of England itself.

The Irish cause as personified by Hugh Griffith as acquired the services of an American Irish patriot in the person of Aldo Ray. Among his other qualifications is that of a miner if a tunnel job is needed and he surveys it and says it is.

He also cultivates Coldstream guardsman Peter O'Toole who is glad to have a new drinking companion and he furnishes all kinds of information about the bank and its security. He also begins to suspect something is terribly amiss at the bank though he can't put his finger on it.

Ray's crew consists of Albert Sharpe in his farewell performance who's more of a hindrance than a help, Elizabeth Sellars with whom he has a past and Kieron Moore who Sellars has a present. That does not make for a smooth running operation.

John Guillermin who later directed such films I liked as Death On The Nile and Guns At Batasi directed The Day They Robbed The Bank Of England at a really nice pace and brought out some good characterizations from his players. As for the job itself will it succeed is up to both the caprices of men and politics. Hugh Griffith who is one of my favorite actors and who has the wildest most expressive eyes ever in cinema represents the politics of the Irish cause and quite well.

A very nice film, The Day They Robbed The Bank Of England and for his fans a wonderful opportunity to see Peter O'Toole before he became a star.

Aldo Ray and Peter O'Toole star in "The Day They Robbed the Bank of England," a 1960 film directed by John Guillerman. Ray plays Norgate, an American who sympathizes with the Irish republican movement. To this end, he and his cronies plan to rob the Bank of England. Befriending a guard, Captain Finch (O'Toole) while in a pub, over time Norgate manages to gather many details about the layout of the bank and the whereabouts of the vault with the gold bullion.

This is the type of "caper" film very popular in the 1960s. It's a small British film and a little slow in spots, but intriguing. The Captain is one of O'Toole's early roles, so it's definitely of interest to see him.

One of my problems with this movie is the weak script - it seemed odd to me that the Captain didn't realize pretty quickly what Norgate was up to. The acting, however, is very good, with some fine character actors offering great support: Kieron Moore, Albert Sharpe, and others. The lovely Elizabeth Sellars plays the liaison with Ireland -- she was widowed as a result of the cause.

Entertaining.

An enjoyable film. Low budget, however, the film does not suffer in the least. Typical of this era of British films, with a solid American actor (Aldo Ray), as the lead. Broody, but not really convincing. Good acting by Albert Sharpe played "Tosher". Cameos aplenty from stock actors. First time seeing Peter O'Toole in a supporting role, playing the guards officer in charge of security at the Bank. In my opinion he stole the show, if you will pardon the pun. I see that the film is based on a novel, so wishful thinking as far as the plot goes. I was born and now work in the City of London, so I know that there was obviously a lot of research concerning the sewers and the streets above them. This made the film even more enjoyable.

At the start of the 20th Century, the Fenians have decided to rob the gold bullion stored in the Bank of England, not only for the cash, but as a political statement. To accomplish this they have imported Irish-American mining-engineer-turned-bankrobber Aldo Ray. He studies the plans of the Bank when he can get his hands on them, and makes a friend of Peter O'Toole, the officer often assigned to command the unit of Guards who make sure the Bank isn't robbed at night.

Although the there's no doubt that it's American Ray in the lead, and the wealth of British performers is a pleasure, with John Le Mesurier, Elizabeth Sellars, and the always entertaining Hugh Griffith on hand, it's most notable as O'Toole's first major role, and he owns the movie with his effete, bored Guardsman who'd like to try thinking just once; when he does, it breaks his heart.

This modest but proficient thriller pretty much tells you its plot in the title.It deals with an attempt by the Irish republican movement at the turn of the twentieth century to break into the vaults of the Bank of England and extract the fortune in gold bullion stored there.They call in an American -woodenly played by Aldo Ray -to mastermind the venture and he extracts key information from a Britsh officer ,an early screen role for Peter O'Toole and from a Thames vagrant with knowledge of the sewer system. The climax sees the gang tunneling under the bank in a race against the military who have begun to suspect something is amiss. Cheaply made and slackly written this is still worth watching for the parade of British character actors who pop up and add substance to minor roles and for the touch of cynicism about politics -the Irish movement having plotted the heist find it politically expedient to try and stop it when the political scene changes in their favour

Also on the plus side is its brevity -the movie is under 90 minutes and never drags